Talonopolis

"Is that a Jumper?"

The question was rhetorical. Obviously, Talon could see just as clearly as Melony could that the ship sitting in the middle of her landing strip was a Jumper. Of course, she didn't actually need a landing strip, since the dart she was in didn't have any more landing gear (wheels and such) than the Jumpers did, but they were going to end up flying right over them at this angle, and that would probably be unnerving to whoever might be down there. Unless of course, they were inside the lava tubes.

On the plus side, the fact that Melony hadn't noticed the Jumper until she was right down in the ravine and flying over it was perfect. It meant that the shielding of the lava – whatever it was that kept sensors from scanning through the stuff – was just as effective from the outside as it was from the inside. Which would keep her precious dart fleet from being spotted unless the Wraith ended up flying down her ravine as well.

Just a she was thinking this, though, alarms started going off all over the dart. Flashing lights and warnings in a language she didn't know how to read came along the heads-up display, and she felt the little ship suddenly rock violently in the air – and almost crashed into the side of the ravine as she over compensated.

"What the hell?"

The warnings flared again as Melony flew over the Jumper and then a moment later over her other two stolen darts. Had this one suddenly developed some kind of anti-theft device? She knew she hadn't hit that self-destruct button.

They're firing at us!

"What? Who is? Why-"

Another explosion rocked the little ship, and Mitchell suddenly lost all power. Whatever had been hit, it was something crucial, because everything went black. She lost her heads-up display, her alarms, and her controls to the ship. Everything. And the dart plummeted.

"Son of a bitch!"

OOOOOOOO

Jack watched as the small craft finally took a fatal hit and started smoking. A moment later, it crashed into the ground several hundred feet past the other two craft, a fireball of wreckage that made him feel a surge of satisfaction. Ha. Bastards. Take that. He reloaded his P90, and looked at the others, all of whom were looking in the direction of the downed craft.

"Carter? Let's-"

"O'Neill."

Teal'c's eyesight was better than any of theirs, and he was the first to see the figure staggering out of the burning wreckage, take several steps and then fall. As they all watched, a moment later the figure struggled to its feet once more, heading in their direction – although they were way too far away to see anything more than just that it was a someone.

At that range the P90s wouldn't be effective, and the sidearms were definitely ruled out, but Jack pulled his Beretta anyways, watching and waiting for the Wraith to approach within range. Of course, Teal'c had his staff weapon trained on it, and the others their P90s, still, so Jack wasn't concerned about one lone alien – no matter how much of a life-sucker it was.

Then the already destroyed ship exploded. Just blew all to shit with a force that even Jack and the others could feel. The Wraith was flattened. Thrown forward in the dirt that covered the lava flow in the ravine. And this time, it didn't rise.

"Carter, you and Teal-"

"General…" Sheppard had been watching as well. And even though his eyesight wasn't as good as Teal'c's, he'd been able to see that something was different about that Wraith – even as he'd fallen. Something naggingly wrong. Wrong enough that he suddenly felt his stomach clench and his heart seem to stop.

He headed for the fallen figure at a run.

"Major!"

Sheppard didn't turn, and Ford was right behind him.

Jack swore, and motioned for the others to follow as he headed that way at a run as well, his Beretta easier to hold than the P90s and not slowing him up quite as much, allowing him to catch up with Sheppard about a hundred feet away from the fallen figure.

"What the hell- shit."

The figure on the ground moved, and Jack cocked his Beretta even as they ran. All he could see of the Wraith was a lot of blood and dust, with a shock of pale hair that-

"No!"

Sheppard reached out and grabbed the arm holding the Beretta, pulling it down and away before Jack could fire and shoot the thing to finish it off.

Jack came to a skidding halt, and Carter barreled right into him, sending him, Sheppard and her all to the ground in a heap.

"What the hell are you doing, Major?" Jack snarled, rolling immediately to his feet.

"Major!"

Ford hadn't fallen and hadn't stopped. Now he was kneeling beside the fallen figure, already reaching for his first aid kit. "It's Mitchell!"

"What?" This was from Jack, who came over as well, his heart racing as he realized he recognized the form the closer he came. "Oh, God…"

He dropped to the ground beside her, and rolled her over. She was covered in blood and burns, her face smeared with it and her clothing ripped, torn and burned. But she made a pained noise when he took hold of her and Jack gave a glad cry. If she was alive then she would be all right. Probably.

"Melony?" He touched her cheek. God, she looked awful. But never had he been so glad to see someone. "Melony!"

She made a noise, and her eyes opened, but he wasn't so sure that she knew what she was seeing, because her eyes were glazed and filled with pain.

"Melony…"

The others gathered around, and Sheppard spoke first, breathless from the sprint, and the fact that they'd almost killed Mitchell.

"We've got to get her back to Atlantis."

Jack nodded, letting her go and standing up."

"Teal'c."

The Jaffa came forward and carefully gathered Mitchell into his arms to carry her back to the Jumper. Sheppard ran ahead to get the ship up and running and ready to go, and the others all headed that direction as well. Jack hesitated just a moment, turning and looking back at the shattered remains of the smoking ship, but he didn't have time to wonder how she'd managed to end up in what was obviously an alien ship.

OOOOOOOOO

Carson Beckett was waiting in the Jumper bay with a team of medics, his heart pounding in fear and worry. They didn't have much to go on, so he didn't know what exactly the extent of Melony's injuries were, but from the concern in Sheppard's voice when he'd called ahead, it couldn't be good.

The rear hatch opened as soon as the Jumper came to a stop, and Beckett jumped up the ramp, pushing people blindly out of the way to get to the bloody figure who was lying on the floor of the cargo area, covered with a couple blankets.

"What happened?"

There was a long pause as everyone looked at each other, and Jack scowled, a mixture of annoyance and concern making his expression unreadable.

"We sort of shot her down…"